The World
by Nightlight5
Summary: After a terrible car accident, Yami is left behind with the guilt of Yugi's fate and a new RPG game. Yami's desire to forget his guilt draws him into this new virtual gaming world, but while there, will he discover Yugi's true fate? hackSIGN parody
1. The Game of Life

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! **

Hello Guys! I'm back! watches all the readers scream and run away Nightlight5: O.o" Guys? They must've had to go to the bathroom. shrugs shoulders Anyway, as you probably already guessed, this is my newest fic called "The World". This fic is kinda a .hack/SIGN Yu-Gi-Oh parody but not at the same time. I using some of the main story lines from .hack/SIGN but I'm changing it up a bit to suit with the Yu-Gi-Oh characters. But... Any way you cut it I own neither Yu-Gi-Oh nor .hack/SIGN, boy, these disclaimers sure do make you feel low don't they. -.-' Anyways, I hope you enjoy this new fic! I'm hoping that these long promised fic will tide you guys over until I can get the next chapter of 'Test of Friendship' up. Sorry about the long wait on it, it's a long story that has to do with my computer repair man leaving town and taking my laptop with him. Oh Yeah! And also I made Yugi and Yami brothers in this fic, so they are separated in this fic.

"Blah" means Talking

'_blah' _means Thinking

**The World**

**Chapter 1: The Game of Life**

The Domino City Super Mall was alive with the sound of fast moving customers heading to and from the many shops that laced the sides of the building. The sounds of their constant chatter carried itself on an imaginary current that flowed all around the mall causing many different conversations to be heard all at once. Needless to say, by the time it reached anyone's ears, all it sounded like was a bunch of mumbled noises. Especially to a young boy named Yugi Muto, who sat at a circular table in the food court reading the back of a new game he had just purchased. The game was called "The World". The World was the latest in video game technology, courtesy of Kaiba Corporations. This game allowed you to hook to the internet and enter into a whole new world, a virtual world that allows your mind to leave the comfort of it's own home and enter a realist second world where you become the character you play. Yugi, being a big RPG fan, couldn't wait to purchase the game once he heard of its release. It had taken him months to save up enough money to be able to buy it, and today he was finally able to get it. He was really excited about it, so excited that while he was so deep into reading the contents of the "player's guide" he couldn't hear his big brother, Yami, who sat across from him at the table, trying to get his attention.

"Yugi?" Yami asked once again. It had been the third time he had called Yugi's name only to get no response. He couldn't help but to smile at the mesmerized look on Yugi's face as he stared endlessly at the game. Yami knew how much getting this game had meant to Yugi, after all, Yugi had practically begged him to take him to the mall once he gotten the money to buy the game. But still, Yami couldn't pass up the opportunity to pick on his younger sibling, besides, what kind of big brother would he be if he didn't?

Yami looked down at the contents of his plate and noticed he still had one or two fries leftover from his lunch. Reaching his hand down to the plate, he picked up one of the fries and twirled it between his fingers, carefully making sure that Yugi wasn't watching. Once he was sure that Yugi was still off in 'Lala Land' he caught the fry between his thumb and index finger. Almost without effort, Yami thumped the fry out of his hand causing it to connect with the tip of Yugi's nose, startling him quiet a bit.

Yugi jumped back and drop the "player's guide" onto the table. He began to look around to see where the fry had come from, only for his eyes to land on a very smug looking Yami. The likeness between the two brothers were uncanny. Even though Yami was two years older than Yugi, there were only a few things that set them apart from one another. Yugi, being the younger brother, came to the shoulder on Yami. They both had the same black spiky hair lined with red, yellow highlighted bangs, and deep amethyst eyes. However, Yugi's eyes were larger, showing of pure innocents while Yami's eyes were rougher, showing a slightly tougher side. Yami also had more highlights in his hair resembling lighting bolts. Yugi gave Yami the best smirk he could muster. "You call that a smirk?" Yami asked. Yugi simply ignored the question and came up with his own.

"What was that for?"

"What was what for?"

"You know what I mean." He said as he brushed the remaining salt pebbles from his nose.

"Oh that," Yami stated, "I was only trying to save you from whatever world you were caught in."

"What are you talking about?" Yugi asked as he placed his "player's guide" back into his bag. "I wasn't caught in another world."

"Yugi, you hadn't blinked in the past ten minutes."

Yugi blushed for a second. "So."

Yami smiled and stood up from the table. "Come on Yugi, we have to be getting home."

Yugi nodded and followed suit close behind his brother.

"So Yugi, what's so good about that "thing" you just had to have." Yami asked as they made their way to the mall exit.

"Thing? Oh, you mean my game. What do you mean what's so good about it?

"Well, why is it you had to have it? What makes it special?"

"What makes it special! Yami, this is the first virtual RPG ever made that hooks straight into the net. It's an RPGer's dream come true!" Yugi stated matter-of-factly.

"Hmm...", Yami said scratching the top of his head, "I must be behind on my geekology."

"Yami!" Yugi whined as he shot his brother an annoyed look, "Besides it says that you can interact with other online players. You can talk and trade with them, and they say this game is great for making friends."

Yami's eyes shot over to Yugi, who was now staring at the floor. "Yugi, we've been through this..."

"I know Yami, but..."

"Look Yugi, we don't need any friends, not any of those jerks at school, and not any from that game. We're just fine being friends with each other." Yami's attitude had changed when he had heard Yugi mention having friends. It's not that Yami didn't want Yugi to have any friends, it's just that all the people at there school weren't very friendly and seemed to not want to be friends with them. They were rude and seemed to talk down to them, especially to Yugi. They figured Yugi to be weak since he was the smallest kid in his grade. So they pushed him around and never included him in anything. Yugi had never told Yami about any of their teasing or making fun of him until one day when Yami caught a few of the boys at school messing with him. Needless to say, Yami was none to pleased with this and put an end to there teasing immediately. After that, Yami had become uninterested in making friends with any of those jerks and had forbid Yugi from making friends with them either.

"I know," Yugi said with his head held low, looking at his game, "but, wouldn't you like to have some other friends besides me? I know it must be tiring just having me and grandpa to talk to all the time."

"No, I don't mind just having you and grandpa to talk with all the time."

Yugi keep his head down as they slowly neared the exit door, _'I'm sorry, Yami. If it wasn't for me, you'd have friends. But instead you're always having to look after me._ _That's not being fair to you.' _

Yami looked down at Yugi's depressed looking face and frowned for a second. He knew how bad Yugi wanted friends, but... he wasn't going to let someone be friends with Yugi that pushed him around. Yami put on a half smile and stopped Yugi. He grabbed Yugi and put him in a half head lock/half hug and ruffled his hair. "Don't worry bro, we'll be just fine." Yugi smiled and pulled away from Yami, who was now making a considerable mess out of his hair. Yami smiled at Yugi and began to head for the exit. _'We'll be just fine.'_

Yugi tried his best to fix his hair as he and Yami made their way out the exit of the mall. He looked up at the dark puffy clouds that were slowly making their way around the sky. _'Hmm, looks like rain.'_

* * *

The car doors shut with a bang as the engine of the vehicle roared to life and the small blue truck made its way out of the parking lot and into the street. Yugi stuck his game into the glove compartment and had wiggled his way back into his seat. Dark clouds had begun to swirl in the sky and started to slowly rain, each drop growing larger and falling more rapidly as they rode along. By that time Yugi had realized he hadn't been wearing his seatbelt and quietly reached back for it. When his hand grasped the buckle, he began to pull it forward not realizing that at that point the belt had snapped away from the buckle. Yugi continued to fasten his seatbelt, putting the buckle into the latch and sitting back once again. 

Yami turned his windshield wipers on to clear his vision of the rain. He liked driving in the rain. It was peaceful and calm and quiet, at least until he heard the familiar click of a seatbelt, signaling that Yugi had finally decided to put his seatbelt on. Yami glanced over at Yugi and then back at the road, but took a double-take when he saw what Yugi considered as a seatbelt. Yami chuckled inwards which drew Yugi attention.

"What's so funny?" Yugi asked.

"...Your idea of a seatbelt."

"Huh?" Yugi looked down at his seatbelt and noticed that there was none. He peered over to his latch and saw that the buckle of the belt was latched but there was no belt on it. He undid the buckle and held it out in front of him. He blushed slightly under the gaze of his brother and also because of an incredible feeling of stupidity.

"Ha... must not, have noticed." Yugi blushed while fiddling with the buckle in his hands.

"Uh huh, sure", Yami said sarcastically, "Don't worry Yugi, I'll drive slowly."

Yugi sat up in his seat and looked out the front window. Through the rain drops he could faintly see a pair of headlights coming closer. They seemed to be coming at a fast pace and swerving on and off their side of the road. Yugi looked over too Yami to see if he was watching the other car, but he wasn't. He was to busy fiddling with the radio to notice the other car.

"Umm, Yami", Yugi stated but was cut off by Yami.

"Just a second Yugi... Why won't this dumb radio work?"

Yugi looked back up to see that the car was closer than he had expected it to be and it was still swerving around on the road.

"Yami, I really think you should..."

"Just a second Yugi...I"

Yugi could now see that the car was close enough for the headlights of the other car to reflect off his big amethyst eyes. He couldn't take this anymore. He had to get Yami's attention.

"Yami!"

"What?" Yami said, finally giving up on the radio and looking up at Yugi.

"Car!" That was the only thing Yugi could get out before the two cars impacted in a screech of rubber and crash of metal. The other car wasn't affected directly. It had jerked off to the side and had skidded to a stop on the other side of the road, which incidentally was his own side in the first place. On the other hand Yugi and Yami weren't so lucky. Their truck had been hit pretty hard and was thrown off the road and into a nearby tree, crumpling the front of the small truck.

The scene was quiet for a moment. Peaceful in fact, as if nothing had ever happened, but it didn't last. Yami shivered for a moment as the cold drops of rain fell in through the broken window and hit the cut on the side of his face. He was very much aware of what had just happened, but he found that it was hard for him to open his eyes. He had a sharp pain in his head and could feel a pulse of pain behind his eyes every time his heart beat. The adrenalin that was pumping through his body sent his mind into a tizzy and clouded his thoughts. He had no problem remembering the crash, but what happened before it? Was there something important he should be worrying about right now, or maybe it was someone? That's when his memory hit him like a ton of bricks. It was Yugi. Yugi was the one he had been worrying about in the back of his mind and he was also worried about the fact that Yugi hadn't been wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident.

Yami slit open his right eye to get a look at the passenger's seat, while still keeping his left eye tightly closed. Yami looked on in horror, at the sight that greeted his freshly opened eye. Yugi was laying lifelessly against the dashboard of the truck with his head smashed into the windshield. The windshield was cracked and had a small hole the size of a quarter in it from the impact of Yugi's head. The rain leaked in through the hole, licking at the steadily growing bruise on his forehead and meshing with the blood that flowed freely from it.

"Yu...gi" Yami said as he reached out to his smaller brother, but soon discovered that that was a big mistake. He winced at the pain that his brain had zapped through his body. He knew his body was telling him not to move so that he could recover, but he had to make sure Yugi was okay first. Unfortunately his body had other plans for him. If Yami wasn't going to obey the warnings his body was sending him, then his body would just have to shutdown. Yami felt a wave of dizziness come over him as he struggled to remain conscious, but to no luck. He soon felt the peace and helplessness of fading into what seemed like everlasting blackness. The last thing he remembered seeing was the crushing sight of Yugi's beater and bruised young face.

* * *

"We're going to need to change his bandages soon," came the sound of a female voice. 

"I'll run go get some from the supple room," replied another female voice.

Yami could hear the voices coming to him, soft at first and then slowly getting louder. He gritted his teeth and squished his eyelids tighter together before letting a small groan slipped through his lips.

"Ah, Joan, he's waking up!" exclaimed the first female voice.

Yami slowly opened his eyes. He could just barely see two fuzz forms looming over him.

"So he is", replied Joan, "how do you feel?"

"...Where am I? What happened?" Yami asked as he tried to lean up, but was promptly pushed back down.

"Oh no, you can't get up, not yet, you just came out of a nasty wreck!" The other girl screeched as Joan pushed him back down.

Every part of Yami's body stiffened as he slowly relived the horrors of the wreck.

"You're in the hospital, Mr. Muto", the other girl informed him, "you really scared us there for a minute. You're lucky to be alive."

"...wreck..." Yami whispered almost inaudible. His eyes were widen as the pictures of the wreck flashed before his eyes. He could see the cars impacted, he could hear the sound of the tires squealing against the damp road, and he could still feel the pain in his head as he sat in the driver's seat shivering from the incoming rain. But the image that came last and stood out the must in his mind was the image of his little brother, Yugi, lying lifelessly on the dashboard of the truck.

"Mr. Muto?" Joan called, "Mr. Muto, are you okay?"

Yami bolted upwards and grabbed onto the sides of his hospital bed scaring the heck out of the two nurses. "Yugi! Where is he!" Yami asked looking wide eyed from one nurse to another.

"Mr. Muto! Please lay down, you need time to heal!" One of the nurses called trying to restrain Yami, but Yami quickly pushed her away. "Sherry, please go get Mr. Motou's grandfather, maybe he can calm him down!" Sherry ran out of the room and the door shut promptly behind her.

"Please Mr. Muto, calm down."

Yami was getting frustrated; he didn't want to calm down. He wanted to see Yugi.

"Where's my little brother? Just tell me if he's okay."

At that time Sherry came running back in the room followed by his grandpa and a doctor.

"Yami, you're awake!" His grandpa exclaimed grabbing a hold of the sides of Yami's arms. "But you shouldn't be up. You need rest."

"How are you feeling Yami?" the doctor asked while taking the pen from his chart and waiting for him to answer so he could write down his response.

"I'm fine, just tell me how Yugi is!" Yami yelled. He was tired of being interrogated by everyone in the room.

Grandpa frowned at Yami for a second and then turned back to the doctor who was also frowning.

"Dr. Hales", Grandpa started, "how is my grandson?"

Dr. Hales frowned deeper and turn to the nurses. "Sherry? Joan? Would you please begin Yami's checkup while I talk to Mr. Muto outside."

"Yes sir", they both said in unison, as grandpa and Dr. Hales left the room.

Yami gazed at the door as it shut with a click. _'This is bad.'

* * *

_

Dr. Hales and Mr. Muto walked down the white painted hallways. Nurses passed them taking down notes and wheeling patients to and from their rooms. Mr. Muto silently walked along waiting for the doctor to speak, but to his displeasure he never did.

Dr. Hales finally stopped in front of a patient's room. Sighing deeply and rubbing the back of his neck, he looked down into the eyes of the worried old man. After all the years of his medical training, after all the heart procedures and even simply procedures, this was always the hardest part of his job.

"Dr. Hales? How is my grandson?"

Dr. Hales sighed one last time before, having to give the diagnosis.

"Mr. Muto, as a doctor I'm obligated to tell you the true, so I wouldn't sugar coat this. You understand that the wreck your two grandsons were in was very serious and it's a miracle that Yami came out with as few injures as he did. Unfortunately, Yugi is a different case."

"I understand Doctor." Mr. Muto said, "just please... tell me how my grandson is."

"Mr. Muto, your grandson's in a coma."

Grandpa took a staggering breath in trying to take in the news.

"You can see him if you'd like." Dr. Hales said gesturing to the door behind them.

Grandpa nodded and followed the doctor into the room.

The room was dimly light. One lamp glowed softly, barely lighting up the soft features of Yugi's young face. The room fit the mood of the moment perfectly... dreary and hopeless. Grandpa walked slowly up to the bed and examined his youngest grandson. A small breathing mask laid over his mouth and nose helping him to breathe. The soft beeping of the heart monitor pinged rhythmically as he followed the IV line all the way down until it connected to Yugi's arm. Grandpa reached out his old and weathered hand incasing it around Yugi's small pale one. He stroked small circles on the back on Yugi's hand as the sight of his motionless grandson brought tears to his eyes.

"At this time, we have him on life support." Dr. Hales said grimily, "He wasn't breathing properly when he was brought in and we didn't want to take any chances."

Grandpa didn't look at Dr. Hales. He just kept staring at Yugi, as if he would disappear if he looked away. A single tear ran down his face and fell upon the unconscious boys cheek, making it look as if he were crying. This didn't help at all. Grandpa tore his glaze away from Yugi's face and stared down at the end of the bed.

"Is... there anything," Grandpa stopped for a moment to clear his throat and then continued, "that we can do for him."

"At this point we've done all we can do for him. The only thing we can do for him right now is pray, and hopefully he will pull out of this."

Grandpa nodded his head and looked back at his grandson.

"However," Grandpa looked up to the doctor with high hopes, "the chances of Yugi actually pulling out of the coma is .1, meaning the chances of him not waking up is 99.9. The odds are impossible, you should just... I won't worry Yami with this. Not at his age."

Grandpa unconsciously squeezed Yugi's hand, reeling at the odds. "What are you suggesting?" Grandpa asked.

"I'm only saying that since Yami is the only other family Yugi has, I wouldn't worry him, what with him being as young as he is."

Grandpa jerked his head towards the doctor in shock. "Are you suggesting I tell Yami that..."

"I'm not suggesting anything," The doctor cut it, "I'm only saying that I have seen cases like this before. I have seen cases were two siblings come in from a car wreck, one coming out just fine and the other one being placed in a coma. The one that makes it out fine always blames themselves for the others misfortune, always coming back day after to day to visit. It's heartbreaking, to see that young person come in everyday, and everyday and every visit they make seems to always take away from them, almost like there driving themselves to insanity. And in other cases, I found that when the other doesn't make it out at all, the other sibling only seems to have trouble at first, but seems to heal better in the long run."

Grandpa still held his shocked face, but he also looked as if he were considering what the doctor had said.

"I'm sorry Mr. Muto, but I must good check on my other patients. I'm sure that my nurses are done with Yami. You may go check on him whenever you want." Dr. Hales strode to the door and stopped before he exited completed. "Oh and Mr. Muto, I hope you seriously consider what I have told you. At least, for Yami's sake." And with that, the Doctor left the room with a soft click.

Grandpa listened for the click of the door as the room fell back into almost complete darkness. Pulling up the chair to the side of the bed, Grandpa sat silently holding Yugi's hand.

"Yugi?" Grandpa spoke to the non-responding form, "Can you hear me?"

Grandpa silently paused waiting for an answer that would never come. Instead, only the reliable beeps of the heart monitor broke the silences.

Grandpa's face screwed up with fear and sadness. Finally, as if a dam had broken, the tears came. "I'm sorry Yugi, I'm sorry that it has to be this way. I wish it was me instead of you that have to suffer, but I can't change what has already happened anymore than I can change the heavens and earth."

Grandpa pressed the small boy's limp hand against his face as a tear rolled down upon it. "I don't know what to do anymore Yugi. I can't help you anymore, and what am I to tell Yami? You were the best thing that ever happened to him, even if the two of you were at each others throats... which happened quiet often." He smiled a little at the last comment, but it was short lived. But soon after the smile had faded, it was placed with determination. "I can't save you Yugi, only you can save yourself now, but at least I know I can still save one person today." Grandpa released Yugi's hand, letting it fall to the bed. He leaned over and kissed him on the forehead before quietly making his way to the door. Hand on the door knob, he stopped and spoke again. "I know that if you could have a say in this, you would want me to do this." Grandpa then wiped the last of his tears away and left the room.

* * *

"And there you go Yami, you're all fixed up and ready to go." Sherry smiled 

Yami nodded in thanks and inspected his bandages. None of them seemed to serious, only minor cuts on his arms and legs and the one gash on his forehead that was now wrapped with a long white cloth.

"Now," Joan started, "all your grandfather has to do is sign these papers and you'll be ready to leave."

"Not without Yugi." Yami whispered sliding off the examination table and to his feet. He winced slightly at the pain that rushed through his body but refused to take any help from the nurses.

"Well, if you're okay, then I'll go get your grandfather." Nurse Joan said as she strode to the door and opened it to reveal a very surprised looking Grandpa.

"Oh, there you are Mr. Muto. I was just about to come and find you so you could sign these papers." She smiled handing the papers to him.

Yami leaned against the table for support as he studied his grandfather's face. He could clearly see that he had been crying and was trying hard to hold back tears at that very moment. His mouth was held and curved in a downward fashion showing not the least bit of happiest.

Grandpa began to sign the last paper when he heard a low growl emit over by the table.

"Enough with the papers! You can sign them later. Just please... tell me how he is." Yami snapped.

"Not one for patience, are you?" Sherry asked

"Well, that's the last of the papers anyway, so we'll leave you and your grandson alone to talk." Joan said collecting the papers and heading out the door while waving for Sherry to follow her.

"Thank you," Grandpa replied as he watched the two ladies exit the room.

Grandpa turned around and approached Yami. They were now only three feet appear from each other. Grandpa was looking at the floor hoping against hope that the doctors would run in and say that everything was alright and that he wouldn't have to lie to his grandson and that they could all just go home. But even he knew that was too much to ask for. Large tears started to form in his eyes as he tried to blink them away. He couldn't breakdown right now. He had to be strong for himself and for Yami, but the idea of it all was so hard and he didn't think he could do it.

"Grandpa...?"

Grandpa looked up and saw all the fear, all the worry that had collected in his eyes over the last few hours. At this point, he wished that he were anywhere else but here. He stepped up closer to Yami and pulled him into a hug.

Yami hissed a little at the pain that surged through his back as he was pulled into a hug. He couldn't help but feel as if he were being hugged by a larger form of Yugi, since Yugi and his grandpa were about the same height. Yami's thoughts were cut off by a short sob.

"I'm sorry Yami," Grandpa hiccupped, "I'm so sorry. I never wanted to have to tell you something like this, not while you were so young."

"Grandpa, what are you talking about, I'm..." Yami cut off when he realized what his grandfather was trying to tell him. Yami squeezed Solomon tighter pushing away the tears that were forming in his eyes. "No... no it can't be."

* * *

Chapter end... 

A/N: Well? What do you think? Any good? Let me know if you would like me to continue. Hope you enjoyed.

Nightlight5


	2. Log In

A/N: Okay, some of you are asking what the 'World' actually is. The 'World' is an on-line RPG where players from all around the world can play with other players on-line. I'm taking this from the anime .hack/SIGN. In short, it's a virtual reality game. It makes you feel like you are in the game but you're really only sitting at your computer desk. So while you think you that you are physically there, you're mind is only in the game. In saying this, it is also impossible for a normal person playing the game to feel pain.

I hope that answers everybody's questions, but if not feel free to ask by review or e-mail, I'll be glad to try and explain farther.

"Blah" meansTalking

'_Blah'_meansThinking

**The World**

**Chapter: Log In**

The bell on the Game Shop door dinged as Grandpa entered in first with Yami lagging slightly behind. Yami didn't bother to stop at the doorway and remove his soaked jacket or squeaky wet shoes. It was still raining outside. The weather had remained the same since the wreck, on the account that it had only happened a few hours ago. He simply continued on his way up the stairs.

Grandpa cleared his throat before trying to speak. "Would you like me to get you something, Yami?"

Yami stopped only briefly to answer before moving on. "You can't give me anything that would help me right now."

Once at the top of the stairs, he made his way to his room and opened the door. On opening the door, he found himself standing in the middle of not his room, but Yugi's. He wasn't sure if he had meant to go in, or if he was just somehow drawn to this room. Everything was as it was before they left. The bed was neatly made while different sets of outfits lay scattered across it and the floor. Yugi had obviously had a hard time deciding what to wear before they had gone to the mall and had no time to put things back in order; not that he would do it if he had the time too anyway.

Yami picked up Yugi's white school shirt and walked over to the dresser. The white shirt lay lonely in the empty drawer as he slammed the drawer shout knocking off a picture frame. The picture frame fell to the floor with a clatter and shattered it into thousands of tiny pieces. Yami mentally kicked himself and gave a bitter frown as he bent over and picked up the frame. Being careful not to come in contact with any of the broken glass, he examined the picture.

It was a picture from a scene Yami remembered all too well. It was the first day Yugi went to kindergarten. Yami was shaking a smiling Yugi's hand while Yami, only being seven at the time, still wore his trademark smirkish smile on his face. He would never forget that day as long as he lived. It was the first time he had ever made a real promise to Yugi.

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

Grandpa tailed behind his two almost identically grandsons as they finally made it to the Domino City Elementary school grounds. Yugi was clamped to the back off Yami's jacket hiding himself from everyone else. Yami looked back over his shoulder and smirked.

"Yugi," Yami said while prying his little brother off his back, "Unless you plan on being my new backpack for the day, you're going to have to go to class."

"B-but..." Yugi trailed off.

"But what?"

"But, I'm afraid to go," Yugi said hanging his head low, "I can't go by myself; I'm not as brave as you are."

"You're plenty brave bro. Besides, it's not that bad and I'm sure you'll make lots of new friends. Going to kindergarten is like going to summer camp."

"I hated summer camp." Yugi pouted

"Well, it's like summer camp that you don't have to spend the night at."

"That wouldn't be so bad."

"Plus," Yami smiled patting Yugi on the shoulder, "It's not like we wouldn't see each other all day. We have the same recess together."

"Really?"

"Yeah, so when your teacher tells you to go to recess, then I'll meet you..." Yami paused and looked around at the playground for a good spot to meet at. "Over there, by those two swings."

"You promise?" Yugi asked

"I promise bro" Yami said extending his hand out to Yugi. "I promise I'll always be there for you, no matter what."

Yugi smiled as his eyes gave off an innocent sparkle. He sprung forward and took Yami's hand. "It's a deal then!"

Grandpa smiled as he removed a camera from his pocket and knelt down to take a picture. Aiming it, he snapped the picture that would forever capture the moment.

Flash

**END FLASHBACK

* * *

**

Yami smiled as a tear ran down his cheek and fell onto the cracked glass in the picture frame that now barely covered the photo. "It's my fault," He sniffed, "It's my fault that your gone. It should have been me."

"Knock knock," Grandpa said because the door was already open, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Okay..." Yami asked in disbelief, "How could you ask if I was okay?"

"Look, I know that this is hard..."

"Hard?" Yami growled and turned to face his grandfather, "My only brother... my little brother, the brother that I made a promise too, a promise that I would always be there for him just died and you only think that's hard!"

Yami's clutch on the picture frame tighten as he finally failed to suppress the tears that had beaten at the back of his eyes for so long. "This was never hard. I can't even think of a word that's bad enough to describe this situation."

"I know this is bad Yami," Grandpa stated calmly, "But you're acting as if you're the only one who lost somebody."

Yami looked up at Grandpa. His eyes sparkled with tears, but he also noticed that his grandfather's did too.

"I know that Yugi was your brother, but he was also my grandson. We both have a right to grieve in our own way; but also, if we want to get through this, we are going to have to rely on each other for support. And I know how much it pains you to have to rely on others for help, but in this case, we need each other." Grandpa paused for a second to make sure Yami was listening and then continued, "So you have to stop blaming yourself for what happened. Yugi wouldn't want you to blame yourself."

Yami looked away, hoping to escape his grandfather's glaze, but he could still feel him staring at him. He hated for his grandfather to see him like this. He didn't like to show his weak side. Really, the only person who had ever seen it was Yugi. Hoping to get away from his grandfather's eyes, he crossed the room and sat on the bed with his back facing his grandfather.

"How would you know what Yugi wants; after all, he's not here to tell us anymore. Besides, I don't want to get through this... I want for this to have never happened; I want this all to be just a bad dream."

"Because I know Yugi, and so do you." Grandpa said stepping up to the other side of the bed, "And you know Yugi well enough to know that he wouldn't want you to blame yourself. And as for having this all be just a bad dream. I wish it were too. But we can't stop and rewind our day to help the dead. Things of that nature only happen on TV."

"Please grandpa," Yami begging, "I just want to be alone right now."

Grandpa frowned and nodded his head. "I'll respect your wishes, but before I go... here." Grandpa slide a medium sized white bag across the bed to Yami. "The people that came and got your truck, left this with the doctor, it's all of your belongs from out of your truck."

After that Grandpa left the room closing the door behind him.

Yami sat on the side of the bed for a bit longer before peering over his shoulder to look at the white bag. Unmoving, he slid his hand behind him and pulled the object to his side. He fully pulled himself on to the bed and peered down into the bag. In the very center of the bag was a large box and different things such as his Driver's License, sunglasses, and an old can of coke from at least two months ago. He seemed uninterested by any of the other items but the box, so he slipped the box out of the bag and pushed the bag of items off the bed and unto the floor.

Yami examined the box carefully making sure no detail went unnoticed. Finally, stopping on the front, he began to read the description.

"The World, the first interactive on-line game. You can talk to different people, level your player up, form parties, and makes lots of new friends from all over. This game is a must have for any RPG fan."

When all the text was read, Yami smiled to himself remembering the previous conversation he and Yugi had had.

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

"So Yugi, what's so good about that "thing" you just had to have." Yami asked as they made their way to the mall exit.

"Thing? Oh, you mean my game. What do you mean what's so good about it?

"Well, why is it you had to have it? What makes it special?"

"What makes it special! Yami, this is the first viral RPG ever made that hooks straight into the net. It's an RPGer's dream come true!" Yugi stated matter-of-factly.

"Hmm..." Yami said scratching the top of his head, "I must be behind on my geekology."

"Yami!" Yugi whined as he shot his brother an annoyed look, "Besides it says that you can interact with other online players. You can talk and trade with them, and they say this game is great for making friends."

**END FLASHBACK**

* * *

A crystal clear tear fell in slow motion hitting the box and splashing before soaking into the card board. Yami gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes closed. "All he wanted was to play this... and make friends he never had. But now he'll never get that chance, and it's all my fault." He covered his head with his hands when suddenly Yami heard Yugi's voice replaying something he had heard Yugi say not to long ago. 

"It's not fair that you only have me and Grandpa to be friends with..., and you say that we're all you need but, everybody needs friends there own age Yami, even if you don't want them. I...I want you to have friends."

Yami's eyes shot open and looked around as if he expected to find Yugi peeking over his shoulder like he always did, but unfortunately he found nothing. His fingers slid gently over the box, tracing the letters and pictures until they found their way to the side of the box. Poking one finger under the lid, he pried the box open. Now he was staring at a headset, a controller, a cd-rom game, and a player's guide. He lifted the headset out of the box causing the cd-rom to fall out with it. Yami, letting curiosity get the best of him, slid the headset on. The headset was built so that at the sides two round headphones covered his ears and in the front a rounded strip was covering his eyes completely. Yami didn't like being deprived of two of his senses and quickly removed the headset before looking over the other items. Everything else looked pretty much standard, even the controller looked like a simple Nintendo 64 controller. Yami eyed the computer that sat across from Yugi's bed and then back down at the game.

_'Should I try it?'_

* * *

Yami sat at the computer after finally getting everything hooked up. 

"Well, I think that about does it. Now, the manual says that I have to pick a character custom and enter my first name or a made up name."

Yami looked up at the computer and clicked on the icon of "The World". In seconds the game buzzed to life and the air was filled with a strange voice.

"Welcome to The World. Please enter your character name here." The voice instructed.

Yami blinked at the screen for a moment before typing... Y a m i.

"Welcome to The World, Yami. Now, please pick a character custom form the following."

Yami shifted through the many customs, hoping to find the perfect one. Finally he came to one that struck his fancy. The custom was a close resemblance to what an Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh would wear. Yami wasn't sure why he choose that particular custom, but it just seemed to suit him. The custom consisted of, a pair of white pants, and white shirt. Around the neck it had a large golden band that extended to the tops of his shoulders and right above his chest. A purple cape was then attached to the golden band around the neck. Along with just the basic clothing the custom came with many other golden bands that would be fastened around each wrist and around the upper part of the arm. And last but not least, there was a golden band that sat on the forehead region and would tuck behind his ears and disappear behind his hair. In the middle of the golden band rest the eye of Horus.

Once Yami had entered his custom, he waited for the next question.

"Now, you must choose what type of warrior you shall be. Please choose from the following."

Yami eyed the options and quickly choose. He only had three things to choose from in this category: Heavy Blader, Twin Blader, or a type of magic welder. He had chosen Heavy Blader. He didn't want any kind of magic, because he wanted to be able to fight a battle use contact and not staying back and casting spells. So he figured instead of having to carry two swords around, he would just carry on big one.

"You have completed your registration. Please place your headset on and log in using the 'Log In' button at this time if you wish to enter the game. Also, you may visit the message board to read about what the other players are doing in The World. We hope you enjoy in The World."

The lady finally cut off and left Yami to the rest. He fit the headset around his head, adjusting the necessary scraps to make it fit and took the controller into his hands.

"Well," Yami said, "here goes nothing. I'll play this game for you, Yugi."

And with that said, he clicked the 'Log In' button and left his body and the real world behind.

* * *

**IMPORTANT A/N**: I am sooo sorry that this took so long! I didn't intend to be so late on the update, but I also didn't intend for Hurricane Katrina to come through and wipe us out. I've just recently gotten power back. Two weeks without power is not fun! Plus we lost almost all our trees! One even fell on our house and another fell on our dog kennels. Ugh! I'm telling you guys, it a complete mess down here. Everything is just chaos. Now they're trying to figure out today how we are going to make-up all our messed college classes because we were out for two weeks. Also, to anyone who reads my other fanfic 'Test of Friendship' I apologize for the wait, but like I said, the hurricane took us by surprise. So I ask that you please be patience with me a little bit longer and I promise to have it up as soon as possible. Never fear, I would never abandon one of my fics. Hurricane Katrina may have knocked me back, but she's not going to keep me down! Anyways, I hoped you liked the chapter. R&R! 


	3. Learning to Play

**The World**

**Chapter 3: Learning to Play**

Yami gritted his teeth as a sharp tug was felt in the back of his mind. He could slowly feel the presents of his physical body trickling away and his mind being pushed into the digital threats of cyber space. The feeling was a bit unnerving. He couldn't say that the thought of him not returning back to his body didn't cross his mind, because it was the first thought that crossed his mind. However; he processed on, the feeling on his controller clutched tightly in his hand being his last physical awareness.

The next thing that his mind was aware of was the feeling of his feet planted on hard metal. Wait… metal? Did the game not work? Had he unknowingly come back to his body and stood in an effort to remove himself from the console?

On the contraire, for when he opened his eyes, his room was no longer his background, but a busy little town. His eyes widen as they darted from side to side taking in all they could before he would have to move.

"Hey buddy, are you going to stand there all day? Other people have places to be ya know."

Yami anxiously scuffled out of the way, not being too confident of his new cyber legs, and mumbled an apology at the semi-angry player. The player took Yami's former position without even acknowledging Yami's humble words. It really didn't bother him though. He was too busy taking in this new world to be worried about some rude random player. The metal platform he had just removed himself from was apparently The World's means of transportation, seeing as the rude player from before just disappeared after calling out the name of what Yami assumed to be a place. A large transparent metal ring spun slowly on top of the platform and gave the impression that it was a about to hit anyone that came near, but whenever someone was near, the ring simply passed through them and kept rotating.

Easily becoming bored with the transportation center, as Yami dubbed it, he began to make his way over and onto the roads that lead into the busy little town. Faint sounds of music could be heard floating through the air as the spiky hair teen surveyed the many old fashion looking stores. Many strange looking people wearing brightly over done costumes and odd markings on their faces paces up and down the street with ether sword or staff in hand. Occasionally they would stop at a store and began to bargain with the owner or stop at another person and began a chat, few looking more serious then others.

'What am I suppose to do now?' Yami questioned as his feet brought him to a stop in the middle of the street. He looked around searching for any clue of what to do next but only found a few signs announcing the date, time, and place of something called an event. He felt sure that that would be relevant in the future, but right he just needed to know what he was doing. Sighing from stupidity of not reading the player's manual, Yami turned to the nearest shop window and trudged over, preparing him self to ask for help; A task that he had never been too fond of.

"Excuse me, but could you tell me…"

"Morning to you sir and Welcome to Gribbling's Grocery's!"

Yami looked taken back by the sudden boisterous interruption of the plump salesman.

"Uh yes, good morning," Yami greeted back a bit hesitantly, "Could you…"

"Will you be buying, selling, or trading today?" The almost robotic sounding clerk interrupted again.

At this point Yami had started to get irritated with the salesman. He wasn't looking to buy or sell anything, he had nothing to buy or sell with. All he wanted was a bit of information about what it was he needed to do around here, but apparently this gentlemen was trying to make things difficult.

"Listen," Yami breathed out trying to calm his flustered nerves, "I have nothing to **buy** with…"

"Excellent sir!" the clerk exclaimed as the back walls of his shop flipped up to reveal several shelves of odd fruit that wiggled slightly and squirmed about. "I would high recommend the 'What-a-melons' today sir, they are 1 coin a piece."

Yami was taken back as the salesman quickly held up a medium sized green, round fruit with two eyes and a mouth. "What-a-melon" the green fruit repeated as the salesman announced it's name.

"Please pick an item you wish to buy."

"Look, I can't buy anything, I don't have any coins. I only wanted to know…"

"At this time you have one hundred gold coins," the clerks said never letting his cheeky smile leave his face.

Yami shock his head. "There's been a mistake, I don't…"

"Please pick an item you wish to buy sir."

The spiky hair teen growled in a mix of annoyance and frustration. "Fine! I'll take this fruit then."

Yami snatched the round fruit from the shop keepers hand and glared at it. "What-a-melon!" the fruit screamed more forcefully as Yami gave it a disturbed look.

"Thank you sir for shopping at Gribbling's Grocery's. Your total gold coins are now ninety-nine." With that said, the shelves behind the plump man snapped shut with a bang and the window to the shop fell down in front of Yami causing him to take a forced step back. A neon orange sign soon fell over the window and read in big bold letters, **'CLOSED'**.

Yami stared at the window with mixed confusion and annoyance at the persistent shop keeper. "What-a-melon?" the squirming fruit squeaked before it disappeared from his hands.

"Hey!" Well this was perfect. Not only did he not receive the slightest bit of information, but now the stupid piece of fruit that he had bought had disappeared. Now what was he to do? Go ask for more help? No, that wouldn't do any good, especially if his help was anything like his previous help.

Yami released a grunt of annoyance as he was about to leave, but stopped when he heard muffled laughter from behind him. He turned around and glared at the person that was laughing and saw that it was a girl.

Yami looked the girl over taking in the colorful and unusual costume that wasn't that abnormal in this realm. Her costume was in the style of a two piece. The top half was ruby red metal and was worn like a bikini, but only had one strap that went over the right side of her shoulder. The bottom piece was a pair of slightly off colored red tights that were covered in the front and back by a dull navy blue loin cloth. On the sides of her hips was more of the red armor like metal that went down by her side and ended halfway to the knee. Her elbows were caped with a gray metal pad that had a spike protruding from the back of it. From there more of the red armor stretched from the gray pad to her wrist. She wore a small choke and a pair of boots that were the same color as the cloth around her waist and strange yellow stripes covered her shoulders, upper arms and also curved under each of her azure blue eyes. Her hair was brown and short, only long enough to rest at her chin and a large sword much like Yami's was strapped on her back with the hilt resting over the left shoulder.

"What are you laughing at?" Yami scolded with his trademark glare painted over his face.

"Sorry," She smiled, suppressing her giggles, "It's just, I've never seen someone so completely lost in here, even for a newbie."

The pharaoh clad teen's eyebrow twitched slightly at the term. It's true that Yami wasn't much of a gamer and was unfamiliar with the general gaming slang, but he had heard Yugi use a few terms several times while playing on one of his many consoles. Yami knew that the term meant, new or inexperienced, and that was as good as an insult to him.

"What do you know?" he shot back.

"I know better than to communicate so freely with an AI."

'Perfect' Yami thought bitterly. Here again were more game terms that he wasn't familiar with and nothing he had heard Yugi say in the past could help him out this time.

The brunette could tell that this 'newbie' was truly clueless by the lack of response, but his face never gave him away. Had she not recognized his quick to snap back attitude she would have thought by his face alone that she had been mistaken about his status as a player and backed off, but his mouth gave him away, along with one other detail, his stats.

"An AI," She repeated so he had an opportunity to defend himself if he really knew what she was talking about, but clearly his silence spoke loud enough. "It means Artificial Intelligence. So no matter how many times you try to hold a conversation with a shop keeper, they'll never understand you or answer you back properly."

"And why not?" Yami asked folding his arms over his chest.

"Because they weren't programmed that way," She simply replied but reconsidered when she saw the teen's stare urging her to continue. "AI are not like you and I. They have no body to return to on the other side, there just computer programs placed here by 'The World's' administration system to serve the players."

"Ah, I see." Yami gave a thoughtful look around at the other players who were currently buying and trading at the other shops."

The brunette gasped slightly and stood in front of Yami's line of vision. This took him back slightly. "I'm sorry. You must think I'm so rude, but I didn't even introduce myself. I'm Tea and I'm a first level Heavy Blader."

Yami stared at Tea's outstretched hand for a moment before hesitantly returning the gesture and a reply. "I'm Yami and I'm a Heavy Blader as well."

"Well it's nice to see a new face around here Yami."

The spiky hair teen nodded and then resumed looking around. "So, how do I make this game start?"

Tea's face faltered and her brow twitched before returning a nervous smile, "Why don't I show you around first? You know, just give you a basic over view of the game."

Yami looked confused at her reply, but nodded in return. He couldn't understand why someone he had just met would offer to help him so freely.

Tea lead Yami to a field with grassy rolling hills with a stone house structure in the distance. The sky was scattered with small puffing white clouds and the sun was at a pleasant angle in the sky.

"So, let me get this straight," Yami mused with his hand resting on his chin in a thoughtful matter while his other hand supported his elbow, "this game is all about leveling up."

"That's right," Tea nodded, glad to see that the information was finally starting to sink in. "The more creatures you destroy, the stronger you become and your strength is measured by your level. You should be able to see all your stats on your menu screen."

Tea looked over to see that her company looked to be in a daze. This told her that he must be checking his menu screen to see if her information was accurate. When she saw that his eyes had refocused she continued.

"Now, here comes the good stuff. Some monsters hold treasures."

"Treasures?" Yami repeated

Tea nodded, "Like special power ups, items, or summoning monsters. Once you've defeated the creature, if it holds a treasure it will be left on the ground for the player to open. Lower level creatures will only carry common items such as potions for healing HP (Hit Points) and curing poisons, but a higher level monster holds more powerful/rare items like curing your whole party's HP, special techniques, and if you're really lucky a summoning monster."

The pair was currently walking closer to the structure. Now that Yami was closer to the building he could see that there was a fenced in area around the front side with what looked like small, large snout pigs sniffing about the grounds, but the pharaoh clad player was more interested in Tea's last statement then some bazaar farm animal.

"A summoning monster." Yami mused, "Sounds intriguing, but what are they? What makes them so special, so rare?"

Tea looked to be thinking on the subject. At about that time they had reached the stone structure and were now both leaning on the fence. Tea had her elbows on the top railing well Yami's only support was his back since his arms were folded across his chest.

"Well," Tea start, still looking as if she was trying to find the perfect words. "Very few player's have them, because there really hard to find. Usually only the hard core and powerful players have them, but on occasion some average player's have been lucky enough to find one."

"Yes I understand, but what are they, and how exactly does one going about retrieving one?"

Tea smiled at the 'newbie's' eagerness to learn. She could remember when she first started her on-line adventure and could remember how eager she was to learn and master the game. "A summoning monster can be found after you defeat an extremely powerful monster, sometimes there also given to winners of an event, but not often. They come in the shape of a card and can only be called into battle once their master's magic has reached a certain level. The more you fight, the more your magic level goes up. Each summoning monster has its' own special ability, and just like the monsters you fight, summoning monsters have their own levels. A lesser summoning monster like the 'Magician of Faith' takes lesser magic to summon because her effect in battle is not as great as say the 'Dark Magician Girl' which takes more magic because her battle damage is greater."

Yami nodded in a thoughtful manner, taking in all the information that his companion had just relieved to him. At first, the thought of just leveling up being the only objective of this game was quiet boring to him, but this new twist of achieving monsters to fight by his side was an altogether different thing. He knew that this part of the game, he would greatly enjoy.

"Do you have one?" was the question that was out of Yami's mouth before he even realized it.

The brunette looked surprised by the question at first but then slightly embarrassed, "Well, kinda, yeah."

"Kinda?" Yami replied. "May I see it sure?"

Tea bite her lip, "Sure, but I have to say first that I was only one of the lucky player's that found a lesser summoning monster, so try not to be disappointed."

With the warning in mind, Yami watched as Tea held out her right hand and right before Yami's eyes a thin card appeared in her grasp.

"Here," Tea said as she held out the card for Yami to look at, "she may not be the strongest summoning monster out there, but, I'm proud to have her."

Yami took the card gentle from the heavy blader's hand so not to damage it in any way. The card was labeled at the top in bold black letters 'Magician of Faith' and had one star under the right side of the title. There was a picture of a girl on the rest of the card. She wore purple robes that were colored deeper than the purple color of her long ponytail styled hair and she carried a crescent moon staff that had a ball floating between the two tips of the crescents moon.

Despite the fact that the monster was indeed weak, Yami couldn't help but to still be in awe of the creature. If this was only one of the weaker monsters, then what did one of the powerful ones look like.

"Maybe you can see her in action today." Tea said cheerfully as she took back her card, "I'm meeting the rest of my party here in a minute so we can all go level up. If you like, you can come join us. I'm sure the guys won't mind if you came with us."

Yami seemed to be thinking about her offer, but didn't get the chance to think on it much longer because of two loud cries that could be heard coming there way.

"That's them right now." Tea announced while grabbing Yami's upper arm and ushering him along against his will. "Come on, I'll introduce you."

When the brunette blader finally stopped pulling Yami along he looked up to see two taller males standing in front of them. The one that was standing the closest had short but large blonde hair and brown colored eyes. He wore a small brown vest that didn't quite reach down to his waist and the front lay open and exposed his bare chest. Between the opening of his vest, a green marking of an 'O' with spiky points around the outside lay in the center of his chest. The strange marking could also be found on both sides of his upper arms. Green pants covered his legs and ended tucked into a pair of brown matching boots. Wrapped around each of his forearms to his wrists were white ribbon like clothes and upon his fist he wore what appeared to brass knuckles that strapped around the whole back of his hand and end just above the knuckle area. And lastly a black belt with a silver belt buckle that had a drawing of two crossed axes on it was strapped around his waist.

"'Ey Tea, whose you're friend?" the blonde boy greeted and then eyed Yami with a curious but friend smile.

"Hey Joey, this Yami, he's a newb…" Tea stopped in middle sentence when she saw the said teen's sharp eyes shot her a fiery glare. "I mean new play, Yami's a new player."

"You mean he's a newbie?"

Tea sweatdropped at the other unidentified boy while a large vein could been seen popped out above Yami's twitching eyebrow.

"Tristan you idiot!" Joey yelled and knocked the boy in the head with his fist.

"Ow, geeze, watch what you're doing with those things man," Yami heard Tristan yell at Joey. He watched the two boys grumble to one another while he looked over the recently identified player's outfit. This boy also wore a brown vest similar two the first except his vest was lighter in color and had short sleeves instead of no sleeves. Underneath his vest he wore a two color shirt, the chest part being colored blue and the torso and collar yellow. He wore matching blue pants that ended in the same style as Joey's and also wore the same type of boots both in color and in fashion. Also, on his back were two crooked looking draggers that were strapped on in a 'X' pattern. On top of his head he wore a short brown hat where the edges were folded up on the side so it would look like a flatten bowl. Small golden wing stood upward at a laid back angle on each side of his hat and a blue strip on each side of his cheeks starting at his jaw bone and ending just under his eyes finished off his costume.

"Enough you two, saving your fighting for the monsters." Tea scolded the two as if she were there mother.

Joey released Tristan from his head lock. "Yes ma'am."

"So where di'ja ya guys wanna go?" Tristan asked while straightening his hat.

"Well I was thinking," Tea began, "that maybe we could begin Yami with us. You know, give him a few pointers."

"Fine with me."

"Yeah sure Tea," Joey nodded with his eyes closed and hands on his hips, "After all… there's no better way or person to learn from then the great Joey Wheeler."

The small grouped sweatdropped as Joey ended his short speak in an overly dramatic pose and was grinning and laughing like the cat.

Yami was seriously beginning to doubt this guy's sanity and wondered if joining this game had been that great of an idea after all. But what else was there to do? Go home to an empty game shop where the only thing to do was to go through his little brother's room and think about old times while blaming himself? I think about what things would be like if that wreck hadn't happened? He couldn't do that. Deep inside, he knew that it would kill him. The guilt, the pain, everything would weigh him down and eventually crush him. Part of him knew that that's what he deserved, but the other part of him, the part that held to reason told him that Yugi wouldn't have wanted that. Yugi most of all wanted Yami to live, to enjoy the company of friends that he never allowed himself to have. So that's what he could give Yugi. He could swallow his pride and learn to make friends again.

"'Ey Yami!"

Yami snapped out of his daze and looked up to see that his three companions where half way back up the hill and on there way to the teleportation gate.

"You comin' man?" Tristan yelled.

Yami nodded not knowing if they could see him or not and took off after the three friends.

"I got it!" Joey bellowed as he rammed his spiky brass knuckles into the forehead of a small brown fur ball looking monster.

"No wait Joey!" Tea and Tristan yelled simultaneously.

Unfortunately the blonde had already launched his attack and had no time to pull back. As his fist got closer to the little fur ball it finally turned around to face him.

"Ahhh!" Joey yelled as he could now tell exactly what it was he was attacking.

"Kureee!" the little fluff ball yelled in surprise.

When Joey was about to connect fist to head with the little creature a sword came swing from out of nowhere and cut the little creature in half so that it harmlessly vanished into thin air.

"Yeah!"

"Alright Yami," Tristan cheered as he ran over to his newest fellow play, "Your first monster and you're already saving Joey's butt."

"'Ay, I heard that." Joey grumbled but then looked over at Yami with a sheepish grin. "Thanks man, I didn't see it was a Kuriboh. If I had of touched that thing, it woulda blow me ta high heaven."

"Looks like somebody's a natural." Tea commented slyly.

Yami simply shrugged his shoulders, "It was a lucky guess. I knew it had not be something about the way Joey was attacking it, because the Joey's stat levels are way above the Kuriboh's levels so it couldn't be strengthen."

"That's so fast thinking."

"Tristan's right," Joey nodded, "we could use someone like you in our party."

"So do you say?" Tea asked as she stepped out from behind Yami, "You wanna join our party?"

"Party?" Yami reply. He didn't understand why they were having a party after defeating one low level monster.

"It means team in game term." Joey answered giving Yami a funny look. "Boy, you really are a newbie aren't ya."

Yami looked annoyed at the use of the term but didn't say anything more about it. "And you want me to be on your team?"

"Yeah, any newbie who saves Joey's butt is okay in my book."

"Shut up Tristan!"

"And besides, your team should be made up of all your friends." Tea explained while ignoring her other two friends. "We're all friends here right?"

Yami world around him seemed to freeze and fade to black and white as Tea's voice rang through his head.

_"We're all friends here right…?"_

_'This is the one thing that Yugi always wanted me to have.'_ Yami thought as the memory of his younger brother's voice echoed along with Tea's.

_"…everybody needs friends there own age Yami, even if you don't want them. I...I want you to have friends."_

_'I know Yugi, I know."_ Yami cooed inside his head. _'You and grandpa both know how much I hate to relay on others, but this time, we'll do it your for. I'll do this for you, and for grandpa.'_

"So what do ya say Yami?"

Yami looked up to see that Joey along with Tristan and Tea were standing in a 'one-person-shy-of-a-circle' with there hands out stretched and laying one on top of the other.

Yami hesitated for a second before nodding and stepping in the empty stop of the circle. "Yeah Joey, I'll join the team." And with that Yami added his hand to the top of the pile.

Computer: Adding new party member… Processing… Player: Yami Muto.


End file.
